NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



377 



Spur Training. 



Cane Training. 



Fan Training. 



PRUNING AND TRAINING GRAPE-VINES. 



In this section of the country, grapes do not re- 

 ceive the attention that they deserve. One reason 

 for this is, want of knowledge in their management. 

 Most foreigners in this country follow the usual 

 practice in Europe, and cut back the vines too much, 

 leaving only a few eyes ; and in the summer, they 

 often cut back the growing shoot close to the fruit, 

 which prevents fiitt growth and maturity. 



On the contrary, cultivators who have had but 

 little experience in this business, neglect pruning, 

 sometimes for years, until the vines become exhausted 

 in the production of small, worthless fruit, and a su- 

 perabundance of wood, forming a dense mass, without 

 sufficient air, light, or heat to perfect fruit, or form 

 strong, healthy, and productive vines. 



In cultivating our native grapes, — and no others 

 are adapted to out-door culture, — these extremes 

 should bo avoided. After the fall of the leaf, and 

 before extremely cold weather,, grape-vines should 

 be thoroughly pruned. If many spurs are left on a 

 vine, they should be pruned back ; leaving two, 

 three, or four joints of the present year's growth. 

 The quantity of wood left should depend on the 

 room and the strength of the vines. Where the 

 spurs are close together, cut out every other one. 



In fan training, and other modes where vines have 

 a plenty of room, it is AveU to leave several feet of 

 the last growth ; and in cane pruning, vines are 

 often left six, eight, or ten feet long, of the present 

 season's growth. So much depends on various cir- 

 cumstances, which the operator will take into consid- 

 ei'ation, and exercise his judgment, that definite 

 rules cannot be given. 



Almost every cultivator, who has not much expe- 

 rience in this business, finds, in the summer, that he 

 has far too much fruit and too many vines. So he 

 goes to work, at that season, and mutilates the vines, 

 and thins out the fruit ; but the vines become checked 

 by the close pruning at a wrong season, the wood 

 ripens earlier than usual, and the fruit fails. The 

 only way to guard against the evil is, to prune 

 thoroughly late in fall, or early in winter. If it be 

 done in spring, the vines are liable to bleed. 



There is a difference in our native grapes as to the 

 amount of pruning that is necessary. Some are 

 moderate growers, and will bear good crops with but 

 very little pruning ; others grow very vigorously, and 

 must be pruned closely, else there will be too much 

 vine, and more fruit than will grow and ripen well. 



There are various modes of training. The spur 

 system is the most common. The spurs are cut back 

 every fall, and a part of the spurs should be cut out 

 every season, and new ones trained in their place. 



In the cane system, the vines represented by the 

 lines are those that have borne fruit this season ; and 

 they should be cut away this fall, and new ones 

 trained in their places next season. The vines rep- 

 resented by the dotted lines, are new ones trained 

 up this season, which will bear fruit next year, and 

 will be cut away in the fall. In this way, by cutting 

 out alternate vines every season, the fruit will bo 

 produced on new vines; and it always grows on 

 young shoots from the last year's growth ; therefore 

 constant pruning is necessary in order to produce 

 new wood for the production of fruit. 



Fan training, upon trellises, is much practised. 

 The vines may be kept short, or extended to a con- 

 siderable distance, as the cultivator chooses. In the 

 fan system, old vines may be cut out, occasionally, 

 and new ones trained in their stead ; or alternate 

 vines may be cut out, as in cane training. 



In most vineyards, where particular attention is 

 paid to raising as large crops as possible, the vines 

 are set in rows about six feet apart, and about four 

 feet apart in the rows, and trained to a single stake : 

 we find this the most economical and convenient way. 



Grape-vines may be conducted along by Malls or 

 fences, or under ground a considerable distance from 

 the root, and then trained on the walls or roofs of 

 buildings. They may be spread out in fan shape, or 

 the cane or spur system may be adopted. 



There are various modifications of the systems we 

 have named, and in some cases they are blended. 

 The great object should be to prune so thoroughly 

 late in fall, that there will not be too much vine 

 without pruning the next summer, otherwise than 

 thinning out feeble branches that have no fruit on 

 them, or merely pinching off the new tips of the 

 vigorous branches, to check the growth of the wood, 

 and throw the nourishment which the vines con- 

 tain into the fruit, to perfect its growth and ma- 

 turity. 



November is a good season for pruning the grape. 

 Early in December will answer very well. But if 

 vines are pruned in winter, and it is generally very 

 cold till spring, so that the ends of the wood cannot 

 season, they will be liable to bleed, as warm weather 

 comes on, the same as vines pruned in spring. 



